Friday, September 08, 2006

UK: Children Fear Intrusion of National Database

Children fear that the government's national database of every child in England will expose rather than protect them from harm, according to a report published today.

Young people were suspicious of the motives behind the creation of the children's index, which will allow professionals to share information about 11 million children, a study by the children's commissioner for England said.

Many of those questioned believed the system would be "incredibly intrusive" and deter them from using sexual and mental health services for fear this would be disclosed to their school or parents.